Provide a Safe Place to Stay for a Child in Crisis - Join Safe Families for Children as a Host Family / Host Parent

Host Family/Parent Volunteer Role Description

Founded in 2003, Safe Families for Children (SFFC) surrounds families facing a crisis with caring, compassionate community. We are a volunteer-driven nonprofit that provides hope and support to families in our local communities. Located in over 120 cities across the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Hong Kong and beyond, we are motivated by faith to keep children safe and families together.

In many situations, parents or guardians may be challenged in providing a safe and caring environment for their children, putting them at risk of abuse and neglect. In the past, extended family or neighbors stepped in to help families in crisis by caring for their children for short periods of time. Today, however, many families are socially isolated, and their extended family is nonexistent, or unavailable or unable to help.

Safe Families for Children steps into this gap. Safe Families hosts vulnerable children and creates extended family–like supports for families through a community of devoted volunteers who are motivated by compassion to keep children safe and families together. In doing so, our volunteers help strengthen and support families, prevent child abuse and neglect, and deflect children from the foster care system. 96% of children hosted through Safe Families are reunified with their parents after hosting.

Can you help strengthen a family today by signing up as a Volunteer Host Parent?

Volunteer Duties & Responsibilities

• Provide temporary care and housing for children while parents in crisis get help
• Stay in regular communication (weekly at minimum) throughout hosting with your assigned Family Coach and with the child’s parent(s)/guardian(s)
• Maintain a safe and compassionate home environment for children
• Facilitate contact between parents and their hosted children (video calls, phone calls, etc). For longer placements, help facilitate visitation between parents and children
• Pass a home safety screening with Safe Families staff members and provide safe, age appropriate sleeping spaces for hosted children
• Write weekly notes in parent’s profile about how the hosting is going and any progress with or concerns about relationship with parent

Supervision and Support

• This volunteer position reports to and is supported by a Family Coach, who will regularly communicate with hosts and conduct weekly home visits during hosting
• Volunteers will also be connected with Volunteer Ministry Leads to help provide support and resources

Hosting Assignments & Time Commitment

• Hosts are contacted by staff for potential assignments that meet their preferences (i.e. number of children, age, gender)
• Overnight hosting can occur anywhere from 1 night to 6 months. The average length of time a child is in hosting is 21 days
• Hosts can accept or decline a hosting request at any point
• Respite care is available for hosts during longer-term assignments

Location

• Children are hosted overnight in a volunteer’s home. Some day-hosting can occur in public spaces (i.e. at a park, museum, cafe)

Skills & Qualifications

• Commitment to the mission, vision, and values of Safe Families for Children
• Passionate about the well-being of children and committed to keeping families together
• Awareness of the various causes of poverty and a willingness to meet families in crisis with compassion and understanding
• Ability to interact with cultural sensitivity among diverse populations
• Must be 25 years of age or older, as well as stable, mature, and law-abiding
• Must have sufficient income to meet the needs of your household. Safe Families can help connect volunteers with resources to help meet the needs of the children they are hosting (i.e. clothing, formula, diapers)
• Must be capable of providing for the health and safety of the child, and be in sufficient health, and mobility to meet the many demands of a Host Family parent
• No prior abuse/neglect founded allegations or felonies. If there is a felony, the conviction must not have occurred within 5 years of the application and did not involve violence or a weapon.
• Must be free from the abuse of drugs and alcohol. If an individual has a history of drug/alcohol abuse, they must have a period of sobriety five (5) years before the application

Application Requirements

• Application form with three (3) references
• 718c Background Check for you and any persons over age 18 residing in your home
• Fingerprinting for you and any persons over 18 residing in your home

Orientation & Training

• Volunteer training with Safe Families (approximately 4-6 hours; webinar, in-person, and self-paced virtual options exist)
• Mandated reporter training (approximately 45 minutes; online)
• Volunteer interview (approximately 45 minutes)
• Home screening (approximately 30 minutes, can be done concurrently with interview)

Volunteer Benefits

• Access to 24/7 on-call support
• Liability insurance coverage during hostings

How to Apply

Please visit https://safe-families.org/involvement/host-family/ to learn more about hosting and https://www.sfcms.net/apply/ to apply today! Questions? Contact Safe Families Staff at churchengagement@safefamilies.net to set up a time to connect.